Thi s is a study of hospital treated motor vehicle injuriesrnoccurring in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Injuries are described inrnterms of their circumstance, type, and consequence. Driversrncausing injury and their vehicles were compared with randomlyrnselected control drivers in order to identify important driverrnand vehicle determinants of injury. The investigation wasrncarried out between August 21, 1988 and November 12, 1988.rnDuring the twelve week period of study, 1050 hospitalrntreated injuries were identified, for an overall incidencerndensity of 279.4 per 100, 000 person years . The mortality raternwas 17.6 per 100,000 population per year and these fatalitiesrnaccounted for an estimated 11,154 years of potential life lostrnbefore age 65. The annual vehicle inflicted in j ury incidencerndensity rate was 94.6 injuries per 1,000 cars registered.rnThe majori ty (90.6%) of the inj ured were pedestrians andrn48.9% were between 11 and 30 years of age. The commonest bodyrnparts affected was multiple parts (43.6%), the extremitiesrn(26.5%) and the head (22 .0% ). The most frequent type of injuriesrnwere lacerati ons (42 .1. %) and fractures (14. 9%).rnDriver characteristics placing an individual at increasedrnrisk of inflicting injury were male gender, under age 25 withrnless than 5 years driving expe riences, and being privatelyrnemployed with a taxi or small bus drivers licence. Elevatedrnrisks were also found for the following motor vehiclernvrncharacteristics; buses , taxis, private ownership, and less than 5rnyears on the road.rnthe prediction ofrnBased upon a multiple regression ana l ys is forrnmotor ve hi cle in juries, the most importantrnpredi ctions in order of their strength of assoc iation were foundrnto be; motor vehicle age, drivers age, drivers gender and moto rrnvehicle type.rnThis study has documented the high motor vehicle morbidityrnand mortality rates occurring,rnmale populati on of Addis Ababa .rnin particular, among the youngrnSeveral d rive r and vehiclerndeterminants of this important public hea lth problem have beenrnidentified,and recommend ations have been g iven for the planningrnof future preventive programs, safegurding and educating the roadrnuser